[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 4432]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          INTRODUCTION OF THE FULL DISCLOSURE IN LOBBYING ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 29, 2006

  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation that 
would strengthen third-party lobbying disclosure requirements contained 
in the Lobbying Disclosure Act, P.L. 104-65. Specifically, the 
legislation I have introduced today would amend Section 5(b) of the 
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, 2 U.S.C. 1604(b), by first making a 
series of technical corrections and then by adding new language to 
require that specific information be disclosed when a registrant is 
retained to engage in lobbying activities on behalf of a third party. 
This legislation would require that the identity of, the contact 
information for, and the amounts paid by that third party for the 
registrant's services be disclosed on the registrant's semiannual 
financial disclosure reports filed with the Clerk of the House and the 
Secretary of the Senate pursuant to Section 5 of the Lobbying 
Disclosure Act. The intent of this legislation is to enhance current 
law by making the practice of third-party lobbying activities more 
transparent.
  Section 4 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act requires that a lobbyist 
list the name, address, and principal place of business of any 
organization, other than the client, that contributes more than $10,000 
toward the registrant's lobbying activities in a semiannual period, or 
and in whole or in major part plans, supervises, or controls such 
lobbying activities. The changes to the Lobbying Disclosure Act 
proposed by my legislation would reinforce existing Section 4 
disclosure provisions. These changes would require the reporting of a 
third, or subsequent degree, contractual relationship between a 
lobbyist and a client pursuant to Section 5 of the Lobbying Disclosure 
Act.
  The authors of the Lobbying Disclosure Act understood that accurate 
reporting of the identity of participants in third-party lobbying 
activities is important to transparency. In fact, the Committee on the 
Judiciary expressed its views on Section 4(b)(3) in House Report 104-
339, describing that current law ``is intended to preclude evasion of 
the disclosure requirements of the Act through the creation of ad hoc 
lobbying coalitions behind which real parties in interest can hide.'' 
Recent media reports reveal that third-party lobbying activities have 
been arranged to evade the Lobbying Disclosure Act.
  The registration and financial disclosure reports required by 
Sections 4 and 5 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act should both capture the 
contractual lobbying relationships entered into by registrants and 
their clients. Current law requires that registrants declare third-
party contractual lobbying relationships on their Section 4 
registration reports. However, Section 5 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act 
does not specifically require the disclosure of the details of third-
party contractual lobbying activities. The legislation I have 
introduced today would close this loophole. This legislation enhances 
current law and will bring further transparency and accountability to 
lobbying activities.
  I urge my colleagues to support the Full Disclosure in Lobbying Act. 
It is my hope that this legislation will be enacted, and its merits 
will be reviewed as the House considers lobbying reform legislation.

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